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Coronavirus Hong Kong
OpinionComment
David Dodwell
David Dodwell

Outside In | How Hong Kong inflation data obscures the insight needed to help poorer families

  • While not inaccurate, the official figures have little meaning when it comes to assessing poorer households’ suffering or shaping public policy
  • An inability to target government support will result in families not getting the help they need and taxpayers’ money being wasted

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People buy vegetables and fruit at a wet market in North Point on February 8. Vegetable supplies in Hong Kong have been tight because of transport disruptions at the mainland border. Photo: Sam Tsang
David Dodwell
As if worries about Omicron were not enough, recent weeks have seen alarm bells ringing over inflation. Disruption of fresh vegetable supplies, as infected truck drivers have been held at the mainland border crossing, has combined with the usual Lunar New Year price surge to trigger a wave of panic buying.
The supply chain disruption was a warning of more than inflation. It was a reminder of Hong Kong’s extraordinary food insecurity. We not only have to import 90 per cent of our food but rely on the mainland for 90 per cent or more of our pork, beef and vegetables.
Ever since the 2020 swine flu outbreak tore through China’s pig population, I have grown used to the sorry sight of old ladies in my local wet market digging into their purses to afford an ounce or two of minced pork. But the price of bak choi jumping from the usual HK$20 per catty to HK$45 (US$2.50 to US$5.80) has been a bit of a shock.

Heads of broccoli are also more expensive – usually three for HK$14 but last weekend up to HK$20 for a single head. Our cooking oil has jumped from HK$72 for five litres to HK$115, and our normal pack of salt has jumped to HK$4.90 after selling last month at HK$2.90.

It seems inflation has returned. As with the rest of the world, there are arguments about whether it is likely to be temporary or sustained.

02:47

As Hongkongers struggle with rising inflation, the city’s most vulnerable are the hardest hit

As Hongkongers struggle with rising inflation, the city’s most vulnerable are the hardest hit

And yet, if you ask our Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong’s consumer price index (CPI) is up by just 2.4 per cent and by only 1.4 per cent when factoring out the government’s one-off relief measures in the past year. That all seems modest compared with the surge in the United States to 7.5 per cent in January and to 5.4 per cent in Britain.

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